CHAPTER FORTY ONE

Brian quietly fumbled with the handcuffs that bound his wrists together, but it was difficult when his hands were clammy with sweat and when his fingers trembled. Every now and then he risked a glance towards the driver of the car to check that he hadn’t notice Brian’s escape attempt.

He had not said anything else to Brian since they left the police station and Brian had been too frightened to ask any further questions. Brian was certain of one thing though, that this man’s punishment for Brian would be his death.

Brian was going to die.

He stared down at the handcuffs and once again tried to wriggle out of them or prise them open. He winced slightly as he caught his finger on a sharp point and he watched a drop of blood roll lazily down his finger.

He heard a faint laugh from the driver. “You might as well stop. Do ya think I was stupid enough to use cheap handcuffs? You can’t get them off.”

Brian miserably shook the handcuffs and then tried to pull his hands outwards to try and snap the chain, but he only succeeded in making his wrists sore and red. He slumped his confined hands into his lap and then tuned his head to stare out of the window again. He needed to think of something, but it was hard when his mind was trying to climb out of his head to escape death. Then there was the sick feeling inside of him and the fear that seemed to bind all of his limbs.

‘Stay calm. Think. Think. You have to find a way out of this! You have to get back to Harry and Nick!’

Thinking of Harry and nick however made him hesitate. Maybe it was better this way. This man had wanted Brian, not the others. Why would he bother hurting them now that he had what he wanted?

Brian closed his eyes and took a deep breath, wondering if he was strong enough to make this sacrifice. Would he allow himself to be killed? Would he allow this man to tear him away from his family after the damage he had already done?

“A-are you Liam’s brother?” Brian ventured, wondering if this man were as dangerous as Liam.

The driver said nothing for a moment and his eyes remained focused upon the dark road before them. “I hate you,” he said finally.

“I-I - ”

“I fucking hate you, Brian. You’re a murderer. You killed my brother.”

“I didn’t mean to!” Brian said, his words coming out in a rush of fear. “It was an accident! I didn’t mean to kill Liam!”

“Liam! You didn’t kill Liam! If I was dead then I wouldn’t be in this misery! Adam was the only family I had and you took that away from me!”

Brian gasped slightly. “You’re Liam?”

“Who the fuck do you think I am you frickin freak? Your fairy godmother?”

Brian was shaking again at the anger that was in his captor’s voice. Tears were building up at the malevolence that was harboured towards him. So this was Liam Baker, the dangerous criminal who had killed so many innocents, and now Brian would be his next victim.

Liam had begun to drive even faster and Brian was fearful that they might skid from the road and end up a fiery wreck in a ditch. “I’m so - ”

“Shut up, murderer!” Liam roared angrily.

Brian firmly shut his mouth and sat quietly in the back seat again. He could think himself out of this if he stayed clam. Liam was unstable and Brian might be able to stay alive if he could keep his head.

That was a big if. He knew his own mental health had been deteriorating with all of the recent incidents. How could he be normal after everything he had experienced? And Liam had kept him in a state of constant fear and nervousness which still showed even now.

He wanted to cry. He wanted to curl up and wail in misery at his situation. He couldn’t cope. He didn’t want to be here. He wanted to be at the hospital with Nick and the others. He wanted to be with his family. Now he was going to die…

‘Stay calm!’ he instructed himself as he felt the panic setting in. He stared down at his hands and found that the clammy fingers had entwined about each other. He untangled them and pressed them palm downwards upon the seat. ‘Calm… stay calm…’

And he might stay alive.

Might.

Brian’s mouth was dry and sticky and he was shivering as cold beads of sweat broke out on his forehead. He could hear his voice wanting to whimper and release some of the fear that was trapped within him. He peered through the dark windows and saw that they had now left the town and were on a deserted road running beside a wood full of trees, now dead in the cold winter.

He had to do something. He had to get away.

He glanced at Liam and saw that the man’s eyes were fixed heavily upon the road. He glanced down at his handcuffed hands and then at Liam’s head in front of him. He took a deep breath to prepare himself. If he didn’t fight, then he would certainly be killed…

He leaned forward and suddenly grabbed Liam’s hair from behind. The older man gave a sudden yelp and he tried to duck away from his attacker. In doing so he slammed the steering wheel hard to the left and the car swerved with an angry squeal of rubber on road, before coming to a halt at an odd angle. Brian kept a tight hold on Liam’s hair, not knowing what else to do but knowing he had to do something other than just prepare himself for death. He didn’t want to die. He wasn’t ready to die.

“You fucking little…”

Liam swung one of his huge fists around wildly and Brian screamed as something hard hit his face. His hands loosened on the tussocks of hair as his fingers flew to his face to try and muffle the burning pain. Suddenly another blow hit his face and Brian fell back crumpled on the back seat. Something else smacked him hard on the ribs and Brian groaned in pain and misery as something split across his entire chest.

Fearsome hands had suddenly seized hold of Brian’s arms and pulled them away from his face. Brian opened his tearful eyes and saw that the car interior had turned slightly fuzzy with the pain of the blows he had sustained to the face. He could see Liam though, and he could see his dark eyes glaring at him in fury. He cowered on the back seat, trembling and feeling as helpless as a puppy at it’s owner’s wrath. All he could was await his punishment.

He could almost feel Liam’s anger steaming off of his face and Brian closed his eyes again and felt a small tear sliding down his cheek. Why had all of this happened? Why hadn’t he let himself be killed that night instead of fighting back?

“You’re pitiful,” Liam whispered harshly as he stared at Brian’s tear stained face.

Brian to jerk his hands away from the evil man, but Liam kept a tight hold on the chain of the handcuffs to prevent him from pulling away.

“I wouldn’t think you had it in you to be a murderer,” he added.

Brian shook his head. “I’m not. I – it was an accident…. I didn’t…” He sobbed slightly. So much for attempting to remain strong and calm.

Liam released his hands and suddenly seized him by the hair. He tilted Brian’s head back and the younger man squealed in pain at the burning sensation of his hair.

“Don’t you fucking dare try to get out of this one! You’re a murderer! A fucking murderer!” He smacked Brian about the head and then released him. “You deserve everything that’s coming to you!”

Brian sniffed slightly and placed his handcuffed hands to shield his face from anymore attacks. He wiped his sore eyes, but the tears kept on coming.

“Now listen, you are gonna sit there, shut up and keep fucking still! If not…” One of Liam’s hands snaked behind him into the glove compartment. He suddenly brought a black object out and pointed it at Brian’s face.

Brian cringed away from the gun and gasped slightly in fear as his eyes glued to the gun. He imagined what it would be like to feel a bullet tearing into the flesh and rupturing in the skin… Was that what Nick had felt?

“Don’t worry, I won’t kill you yet. I have a far more interesting plan for that, but I could make a few holes. I’m warning you, I have a quick death planned for you but I could prolong that and shoot your limbs off one by one if I wanted to. You got that?”

Brian nodded tearfully and bit his lip to prevent himself from sobbing again.

“So what are you gonna do?”

“I – I - ”

“You’re gonna sit there and not move another fucking muscle!”

Brian nodded again, quicker this time but he didn’t dare try and say anything with the gun still pointing at him.

“Good.”

Liam turned back to the front of the car and then he turned the ignition again. He pulled the car off of the verge they had skidded on to and then began to drive down the same bleak road they had been driving down before. Soon Brian would meet the consequences for killing Liam’s brother. He would face the consequences of a murderer.

Brian could almost see the gates of hell towering above them as Liam brought him closer and closer to his death and the fiery inferno of hell which would be gleefully awaiting Brian’s arrival. Why would God protect him now? He was a killer, Liam was right.

He leaned back in his seat and stared down at the handcuffs, but his constant fiddling with them before had shown him that there was no way out of them.

He found himself thinking of Nick again and he wondered how his younger friend was. Was he awake? Was he even alive? And Brian wasn’t there to sit by his side and comfort him like he should be.

Did the others even know eh was missing? Did they know what he was going through?

Brian felt more tears at the thought of his friends. He couldn’t think of them without his heart screaming in agony. He was alone now. Alone to face the punishment he had brought upon himself.
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